Three workers tragically died at a Hyundai car plant in Ulsan, South Korea, on Tuesday, the automaker confirmed to AFP. Local reports suggest the deaths occurred during a vehicle performance test.
A Hyundai spokesperson told AFP, “Three research workers have died at an Ulsan assembly line,” but declined to provide further details, stating that the cause of the incident was still under investigation.
Hyundai’s Ulsan plant, located 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, is one of the largest automobile production facilities in the world, and the company refers to it as the “world’s largest single automobile plant.”
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, the workers were conducting a performance test inside a test chamber when the accident occurred. It is believed that unventilated exhaust gases inside the chamber may have caused the fatalities. Yonhap reported that the three victims—two Hyundai researchers and one subcontractor—were found collapsed inside the chamber. They were rushed to nearby hospitals but were later pronounced dead.
Authorities suspect that the workers suffocated from toxic gas exposure in the enclosed space, and a police investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the incident.
This tragedy follows a similar incident in 2023 at the same Ulsan plant, where a worker died after his head became caught in a heat treatment machine during an inspection. Hyundai issued an apology at the time and pledged to take steps to prevent future accidents.
Hyundai and its affiliate Kia account for approximately 80% of South Korea’s new vehicle sales, according to 2023 data.